Monday, August 31, 2015

August readings were not august (see what I did there?!)

So I didn't have my best month.  I blame it on not a lot of pool time/free time last month.  Or any time in the near future.....

Go Set the Watchman by Harper Lee (275 pages).  I went into this knowing that Atticus was going to come out as a bigot and a racist.  So I wasn't shocked.  What did shock me was how big of a deal people made about it.  And I didn't return the book to Books-A-Million for a refund.  For a myriad of reasons.  Not the least of which is that Harper Lee is a BRILLIANT writer.  Absolutely brilliant.  I was reading on the elliptical at the gym and I'm sure people were wondering why I was laughing to myself.  Long story short, this story occurs twenty years after To Kill a Mockingbird (but was actually the first book Lee wrote).  Scout (now going by her given name of Jean Louise) has come home from New York City for her annual visit.  Everything seems normal- her aunt is still bossy, her hometown beau is still hopelessly devoted, and Atticus is still Atticus.  Then Jean Louise's whole world is turned upside down when she sees her father and beau at a community council meeting, aka a citizens against segregation meeting.  Jean Louise must come to terms with the world she grew up in and the world she THOUGHT she grew up in.  I read 220 pages in one day.  And I finished the book in three days (only two days of actual reading time).

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick (377 pages).  Apparently it was a sort of companion book to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (which I haven't read).  But I'm pretty sure that's irrelevant.  The book was really cute- an easy read and a creative idea.  A re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice.  Except Lizzie is a 24 year old mass communications grad student who started a thesis project of a video blog (that's apparently the other book).  This one is the secret diary she kept while vlogging.  I read it in two days (hurrah for pool time!)

The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith (398 pages).  This is the sequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  But is totally a stand alone book.  For some background, Abe was a successful vampire hunter.  The Union was a group of vampires who had sworn to protect mankind from vampires.  Abe's teacher and friend was vampire Henry Struges.  And this was his story.  It was AMAZING!  The most creative history novel ever.  All of the mysteries of the world?  Vampires.  The Lost Colony of Roanoke.  Jack the Ripper.  The Hindenburg disaster.  The downfall of the Romanovs.  Vampires were involved.  So, so awesome.  I loved, loved, loved it.  I read it in nine days (only five days of actual reading time).

So there you have it.  3 books, 1050 pages.  I did get about halfway through a fourth book.  But alas, alack- I didn't finish it during the month.  So it couldn't be accounted for this month's readings.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

I"m late posting July readings because I am so humiliated

July was not a very successful month for me, reading-wise.  I blame it on the fact that I didn't get a lot of pool time the second half of the month.  Also, that I started a book that I read 40 pages of in 14 days and then put down.  I might try it again in the future.  But I just can't right now.  So this month was 2 books, 695 pages.  Ouch- I hang my head in shame.....

Ruth's Journey by Donald McCraig (372 pages).  Have you ever wondered about Gone with the Wind's Mammy?  Like where she came from?  What her real name was?  Apparently, so did the author.  Her name was Ruth.  And she was born on Saint-Domingue.  Her mistress, Solange Escarlette Fornier, saved her when the rebellion happened.  The Fornier family escaped the island and found themselves ensconced in Savannah.  When Solange lost her first husband, she found another.  Two daughters and another dead husband later, Solange found herself married to Pierre Robillard.  Through it all, Ruth was by her side, save for the brief time she left Savannah for Charleston with her husband (and spent some time with the Butler family).  When Solagne died giving birth to Ellen, Ruth was right there to raise the girls.  And when a heartbroken Ellen lost the love of her life and married Gerald O'Hara, Ruth went to northern Georgia with her.  At this point, the author took some liberties with GWTW that I did not appreciate.  Changing the very story that I have read numerous times, the story that Margaret Mitchell so beautifully crafted.  Thank goodness, that part of the book was mercifully short.  Other than that, I enjoyed the story.  It was kind of like Wide Sargasso Sea, which told the back story of Mr. Rochester's crazy wife in the attic.  I finished the book in two days.

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman (323 pages).  I had never heard of Jan and Antonina Zabinski.  Neither had any of you?  It's a shame.  Because they managed to save the lives of over 300 people in Poland during World War II.  They ran the zoo in Warsaw.  Once the war came to Poland, they were able to remain in their home (albeit with far fewer animals).  Jan became involved with the resistance.  And they managed to house several Guests for the length of the war.  Sometimes for a few days, others for several months.  Some lived in outbuildings meant for animals, others in closets.  Their story was absolutely fascinating.  The author culled from Antonina's journals, from people who knew them, and from events of the time.  I finished it in five days (only three days of actual reading time).

So there you have it.  The books I read were great.  I blame the stupid Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on my downfall this month.  I thought, every guy my age has read it.  I'm cure it'll be fine.  It.  Was.  Not.